STOCKTON - Members of a U.S. marshals fugitive task force were conducting a surveillance operation in southwest Stockton on Wednesday when they spotted a man who was wanted on suspicion of murder.

Authorities moved in, arresting 20-year-old Michael Vega.

Vega is accused of killing Jorge Angulo, 18, who was shot to death while sitting in a pickup in the 1500 block of South Stanislaus Street shortly before midnight Nov. 12, 2011, authorities said.

A friend drove Angulo to San Joaquin General Hospital after the shooting, but he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. Authorities found a loaded handgun in the vehicle Angulo was sitting in when he was shot in the back, and there may have been a mutual exchange of gunfire, police said.

U.S. marshals saw Vega getting out of a vehicle in the 600 block of Garfield Avenue at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. They called in members of the Stockton Police Department's Community Response Team and the multiagency San Joaquin County gang task force to assist in the arrest.

"This is just a furtherance of our collaborative effort working with U.S. marshals and the countywide gang task force in targeting the most violent offenders here in the city of Stockton," said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. "When you can take a murder suspect off the street, ultimately, that's going to make our community feel safer."

Vega was booked into San Joaquin County Jail about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. He is being held without bail. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. today.